The development of computer human interaction over the many years has been advancing at quite a quick rate. Going back to the 1960's all the way to the 1980's that most common interaction was through CLI (Command line interface). This means of interaction was just lines of text on a screen so computers were only really used by programers and people who had been taught to use them. This because if you didn't know the commands you couldn't get far on the computer.
Then a huge change in HCI came around when GUI's were bought out. In 1985 windows created their first GUI (Graphical user interface called MS-DOS Executive). This was the change that meant instead of just advanced users being able to use a computer but many of people could start to use a computer. Obviously straight away the GUI was pretty basic and only had tools like a calender, calculator, clock, control panel, notepad, paint and some more basic applications. You couldn't even overlap windows so whatever was opened all had to be full displayed in its own block on the screen.
However over the years technology has advanced extremely quickly.
(Windows 1.0)
(Windows 10)
Just from the images above it clearly shows just graphics wise how much windows has changed and adapted to its users. However it's not just changed to the GUI that have made computers much more advanced in this world. Windows 10 is just one of the operating systems that now provide voice recognition as well as the advanced graphical display. Smart phones are available with touch screens and voice recognition. You can get gaming consoles that use voice and face recognition and movement. All because of this technology has a massive impact on our society.
So how has society been affected by the advance in HCI? Well compared to in the later 1900's when only computer specialists who were taught how to use a computer and all the commands on them and yet could still only do simple tasks like a word document, nowadays nearly everyone is able to use a computer to a basic standard. The advancement in simple GUIs and methods of touch screen and voice recognition has meant all ages of people with all different amounts of knowledge can uses computers and other devices. It's become so simple that nearly every human on earth will use or be part of some sort of technology every day.
Some people will think having all this technology and interaction with computers is a good thing and helps improve the quality of society. However others will disagree and say that it's ruining the society. A good example of this would be the creation of CCTV cameras. Humans being able to record and monitor what they feel like. The everyday human will be caught on at least 1 CCTV camera a day. This is debatable whether it's good being monitored or if it's a lack of privacy. The way humans can interact with technology to be able to record an image has created this debate. But as a society we rely on computers more and more to be able to do what we want. For example in the 2000 people would have relied on their mobile phone to just be able to make calls and send a few texts. But now in 2015 with the development of smartphones with touch screens and voice recognition people expect to be able to play games and tell their phone the message they want to send.
Next, which kind of links with society, but how does HCI now effect peoples culture? The most obvious thing to point out is that in the generation we live in applications are constantly being created to integrate with people's lives to benefit them in some way. An extremely simple example if just people listening to music on their phones. At some point in time there probably was no speakers on a computer let alone a phone. Then when phones started developing they would have lacked the interaction to play any song the user wanted them too. Nowadays it's just the touch of a screen and away you go. But as HCI advances it feels like the way we as humans change our perspective on things. To me personally I feel like it gives people a way to be a lot lazier, even in the slightest way. I own an IPhone 5s and from personal experience I expect my phone to recognise my finger print. Whereas a few years ago I didn't think a phone could ever do it and I would be happy to type my passcode into the touch screen. It's an example of making something that little quicker but can portray a person as being that little lazier. But there are some really extreme examples of HCI effecting people's social life and the way they live. This is through medical advancements.
A good one to talk about is prosthetic limbs. The very first ones made were just there to 'take up the space'. They would have very little movement and not really look like the limb that was being replaced. Then as they developed they came to a state where they could make the prosthetic limb look natural and they could have it move just like the limb in the way the user wanted it too. This HCI would have involved the users to press switches and buttons. This was a huge advancement even though it came with the problem of how and what part of the body is going to do the job of pressing these switches and buttons and how complicated it's going to be for the user. However now with even more advancement we have got to the stage when users can interact with the prosthetic limb by using the muscles in what is left of the original limb. This is all thanks to the fact now we can get computers to interact with the small electric signals our muscles give off when they move.
Finally, how does HCI have an impact on the economy? Well years ago when technology wasn't to evolved it was normally the roles of a human in a factory to make toys, machines, cars, ect... This has change now in the present day. Most factories and products that are made are using robots that can interact with each other and the objects they are making. In this present time most industries use robots over humans as it is common to increase productivity and in most cases quality but also overall costs less money. For some big industries HCI is a big and important factor to integrate into the product and advertise. By this I mean if you had to choose between a PS4 and a Xbox one some people might sway towards a PS4 because they prefer a touch pad controller rather than a movement sensor camera and the other way around.
It could even be as simple as something like a washing machine. People might prefer buying one that includes a touch screen rather than one with 15 buttons. So a lot of businesses and industries really need to think about how they are including HCI in products.But it's not all as complicated as this. Simple human computer interaction now means that people not need to go to a shop and purchase items as they can go online and click a few buttons to do the same task. People can use a card to pay for products they can buy. This is thanks to banks cards linking directly up with people's banks. So people can pay for products without physically needed the money with them due to the interaction with the card.
HCI is a part of the economy itself as it creates business opportunities for people inspired to create new HCI. People will use newly developed HCI to make new products themselves or to upgrade existing products. People do this because they are inspired to trying to make a difference in the world and HCI is a part of that.
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